The Tomb Of Our Forlorn Love

“That might be one of the few intelligent things I have ever heard you say in your life, Snape,” a cold, drawling accent sniggered from behind them.

Ellary and James instantly drew their wands at the voice and turned around to see Lucius Malfoy standing behind them with his arms crossed in front of his chest and an amused smirk on his face. He was a very tall seventh year Slytherin with long platinum blonde hair that he kept in a low ponytail, cold gray eyes, and sharp facial features. He wore an array of rings on his fingers as a way of showing off his wealth and pure blood heritage.

Regulus Black was just a few steps behind of Lucius leaning casually on one of the compartment doors and staring at Ellary intently, his eyes nearly unmoving. Regulus was only going into his fifth year, but he could often be found with the older students of his house. The day he arrived in Hogwarts he was almost instantly regarded as the king of Slytherin. He essentially was to Slytherin what Sirius was to Gryffindor. He resembled his older brother very closely with his stone gray eyes and defined, handsome features. The only difference was he wore his glossy black hair shorter than Sirius and he was a good deal smaller in stature, but he was still a very attractive all the same.

“Whoa! Touchy, touchy! I was just merely making an observation,” Lucius held up his wand-free hands, looking a little apprehensive of his enemies’ wands.

“What is little Lucy scared?” Ellary teased, “You better learn to watch your mouth if you don’t want to deal with the consequences.”

“Get out of the way Lucius,” Regulus sneered, with a look of disgust on his face, “You’re really pathetic sometimes, you know,” he added before turning toward Ellary. “Well if it isn’t my traitor brother’s little girlfriend…” he began, “No Slytherin would be afraid of a filthy half blood like you, Snape,” he hissed, “I could make you wish you were never born,” he threatened, never breaking his direct gaze into her eyes.

There was passionate hatred in his stone gray orbs when he spoke to her. Though there was a rivalry between pretty much all Slytherins and Gryffindors, Regulus and Ellary’s abhorrence for each other went far beyond this rivalry.

Ellary gritted her teeth and gripped so tightly to her wand that her hand began to sweat. James could sense the anger boiling up within her and placed his hand on her shoulder in a feeble effort to calm her down.

“Oh Reggie darling,” she said with a nasty sweetness to her voice, that could not have sounded more forged, “You always were a charmer, weren’t you? I swear you get even uglier every year,” she forced a laugh and ruffled his flawlessly brushed black hair out of place.

“Don’t touch me, filth!” he exclaimed, slapping her hands away as if she had just bathed them in a fatal poison.

“Oh, I’m the filth, am I?” Ellary asked, “No, no I think that you are the only filthy person here, besides your little friend over there,” she replied, motioning over to Lucius who was watching on. “You disgust me. You think you are above everyone else in the world just because your last name is Black? Just because you’re a Slytherin! But guess what, Regulus? No one gives a rat’s ass about blood anymore! You are the filth. Hell, you’re worth about as much as the dirt on the bottom of my bloody shoes!” she yelled, her voice quivering a little in vehemence.

“Don’t you dare talk to me like that!” he barked, grabbing her wrist and twisting it painfully. “You have no right…”

“LOCOMOTOR MORTIS!” Ellary exclaimed, the moment he snatched her small wrist, and instantly his legs snapped together and he fell roughly to the ground with a loud bang.

The noise caused many of the people around to curiously open up their compartment doors to watch the battle going on outside.

“Don’t ever touch me, Regulus,” Ellary whispered dangerously, leaning over so she was only a few inches away from his face and her wand was pointing right at his neck.

“You will pay for your stupidity, Snape, as will your brother,” he warned. “Your brother will certainly pay for your actions-”

“Leave my brother out of this, Regulus!” she interrupted, “This is between you and me! And If you touch him, you won’t be eating solid foods for a months, got it?” she hissed, standing back up. “Let’s go, James,” she said, walking away, her hands still shaking at her side.

“I hate him,” Ellary muttered, “I don’t think I can hate anyone more than that arrogant little bugger.”

“We all hate him,” James replied, rubbing her back a little. “Just calm down and forget about it. If makes you feel better, you completely humiliated him back there,” he added with a small smile.

“Yeah… yeah, I guess I did,” Ellary mused. “But my brother is going to have it then times worse than usual, now,” she sighed.

“Whatever, who cares about Snivellus?” James responded incredulously.

“I do,” Ellary answered, “He’s my brother, despite what house he is in,” she said simply, as they reached the back of the train where there was a row of changing stalls where students could put on their robes. “He gets enough abuse as it is,” she whispered sadly, only to herself.

About an hour or so later the Hogwarts Express came to a slow stop and all the students began to file out. The rest of the train ride had surprisingly past by pretty uneventfully. Remus read his book, Ellary stared off into the distance, James and Sirius played a game of wizard’s chess, and Peter fell asleep on the floor.

Sirius once more lifted Ellary’s trunk on to his shoulder, along with his own. Ellary grabbed her owl Digby’s cage and the five of them wandered off train, all feeling a little low in spirits after the fight. But as soon as each of them caught sight of the beautiful Hogwarts castle in the distance, smiles involuntarily broke out onto their faces. They were finally home…

“It feels good to be back,” James sighed, voicing what they were all thinking, as they walked up the long Hogwarts entrance staircase.

“I wish I could just live here all year round. I would rather spend the summer with Slughorn than my father any day,” Ellary added.

“Hah, I know what you mean,” Sirius sympathized, coming from a broken family himself.

He draped his arm around her shoulder and they walked up the rest of the stairs together as many jealous girls watched on. Ellary tried her best to ignore the fact that her stomach was doing gymnastics the entire time.

“I say we make this the best year yet!” Peter exclaimed, as they entered the large front doors. “I must say mates, we slacked off a little with our pranks last year,” he said quite seriously.

“I totally agree, Pete,” Sirius nodded. “But that’s only because Moony here became a Prefect on us!”

“Oh shut up,” Remus responded, his nose still in a book, “I never turned you dunderheads in for any of the stunts that you pulled last year! Though I should have…” he muttered the last part so that it was barely audible.

“Yeah, it wasn’t Moony’s fault,” Ellary sided with Remus, making him blush a little. “It was James’ fault if you ask me.”

“Excuse me?” James turned around and cocked an eyebrow at her.

“You heard me, Potter,” she responded. “Oh no we can’t do that! Lily is a Prefect! She might get mad at me!” Ellary imitated in an extremely high-pitched voice, that made Sirius, Peter, and Remus burst out laughing.

“Would all of you shut up!” James snapped, “And I do not sound like that!” he added pointedly to Ellary.

“Sure you don’t,” Sirius teased and James knocked him hard in the ribs, making him remove his arm from Ellary’s shoulder and grip his stomach. “Aw mate, that was uncalled for!” he said, and James just smiled triumphantly.

“MAKE WAY FOR THE MARAUDERS! MAKE WAY FOR THE MARAUDERS!” the voice boomed through the hallway outside the Great Hall as the five best friend approached the huge doubled doors leading into the dining room. “MAKE WAY FOR THE MARAUDERS!” the voice called again, and suddenly Peeves the Poltergeist appeared making a few second who still weren’t used to the school ghosts years jump and scream in fright.

“Top of the morning to ye, Peeves!” Ellary greeted happily, saluting him respectfully. Peeves had been their partner in crime since their first year at Hogwarts; they were the only students in the school who Peeves did not terrorize.

“Aah, so magnificent to see you again Miss Snape! You look lovelier every time I see you,” he complimented, tipping his hat to her.

“How are you doing Peeves? Did you miss us this summer?” Sirius asked, with a wide smile.

“I always do!” he replied, “Harassing professors is a great deal harder without your assistance.”

“Well, we’re ready for a new year of trouble,” James spoke up, with a mischievous glint in his eyes, making Remus shake his head at him.

“Hey Peeves! Do you think you could do me a little favor?” Ellary asked, with a roguish smile on her face.

“Anything for you Miss Snape,” he bowed, before floating down to her to her level so she could whisper in his ear. “Oh yes, yes… that is certainly do-able,” he nodded his head excitedly, before dashing away.

“What are you up to do?” Remus asked suspiciously, subconsciously glancing down at the Prefect badge on his chest. Remus had always been torn between doing the duty Headmaster Dumbledore had assigned to him in fifth year or staying loyal to his best friends.

“Oh you shall see my friends, you shall see…” she promised.

“Welcome students to another new year at Hogwarts!” Dumbledore greeted enthusiastically after the sorting had ended, causing the roar of the Great Hall to instantly change into silence.

Even the Slytherins respected the tall, legendary wizard standing in front of him. He had a long silver-gray beard that matched his equally long hair, sparkling baby blue eyes full of cheer, and an ever-present smile on his elderly face. Today he was dressed in a flowing, bright blue robe adorned with embroideries of various constellations, shooting stars, and planets.

“I’m positively thrilled to behold so many old faces and so many new ones!” he exclaimed from behind his podium. “I have a short announcement to make before I allow you to satisfy your appetites. Due to a suggestion from our caretaker Mr. Filch the Hogwarts curfew has been changed for fifth years and up to nine o’clock instead of ten, all younger students still must be in their Common Rooms by eight o’clock as usual.”

“No bloody way!” Sirius exclaimed, immediately following the announcement causing the entire school to turn and stare at him.

“An hour off our curfew? Now why would you go and do that to us?” Ellary asked, her arms crossed in front of her chest.

The first years watched in anticipation, expecting the headmaster to expel or punish the two students who had spoken out of line, but to their surprise he just laughed.

“Oh Miss Snape, Mr. Black… I am afraid you two especially should not be complaining. I think it was a little incident that involved you, twenty key lime pies, and Mrs. Norris at 10:00 at night that inspired this new rule,” he said.

“Oh yeah, that…” Ellary trailed off, twirling a piece of her black hair around in her finger.

Dumbledore smiled at her before continuing, “On that note… I hope you have a fabulous new year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry! Dig in!” he finished dramatically.

At that moment mounds of delicious looking roast chickens, mashed potatoes, steamed carrots, and an array of other foods appeared on the table. Even the pickiest eater would have been satisfied by the wide selection.

“I can’t believe they docked an hour from our curfew!” Peter sputtered through a mouthful full of mashed potatoes.

“Pete, I love you mate, but please chew and then talk,” Ellary ordered, looking a little grossed out.

“Wormtail is right though!” James broke in, “This is unwarranted if you ask me,” he said spooning a pile of rice on to his plate as he spoke.

“I wouldn’t say unwarranted, mate,” Remus countered quietly. “And I don’t know why you all are stressing out about this. It’s not like you actually paid any attention to the old curfew,” he chuckled, “What is stopping you from breaking this new one too?” he inquired.

“Nothing, I guess,” Sirius shrugged. “We’ll just keep breaking the rules as we’ve always done I suppose.”

“Hey, it’s worked for five years now. And you all know the saying, don’t fix something that isn’t broken!” Ellary declared pounding her fist on the table and they all nodded in agreement.

“So Ellie, what did you ask Peeves to do earlier in the hallway?” Peter asked, his curiosity had been building up slowly through the feast.

A huge grin broke out across her face, “Just hold on a few more moments Wormtail, Peeves should be doing it any moment now,” she assured him, looking over her shoulder toward the Slytherin table.

As she stared she suddenly saw the thing that she had been looking for. Hanging in midair was mysterious gray bowl filled with what looked like mashed potatoes,

“That’s my Peeves,” she sniggered to herself, as the bowl floated stealthily over to where Regulus was sitting. “Guys, look!” she exclaimed, pointing to what she was watching.

Just as she pointed there was a squishing sound and then an aggravated yelp. Regulus sprung up from his seat and flung the bowl off his head, succeeding in smacking the scrawny, blonde-haired Narcissa Black right in the face. A gooey concoction of mashed potatoes, peas, and what looked like chicken noodle soup began to ooze down his usually perfect hair, face, and Slytherin robes. The entire Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Gryffindor table, especially Sirius who looked like Christmas had come early, burst out laughing, there were even a few quiet laughs coming from the professor and Slytherin table. To Ellary’s shock Regulus’ eyes immediately shot over to where she was sitting and narrowed dangerously at her as if he knew she was responsible. All she did was smile and wave pleasantly in response,

“Hey, that’s a real nice look for you Reggie!” she called over the roar of laughter.